Calif. candidates raise more than $1 billion

The problem, he said, would be raising enough money to pay workers to collect the voter signatures needed to qualify the measure.

"I don't think anything is going to happen in 2010," he said. "But if somebody came along and said, 'I have $5 million and I want to do something,' something could happen."

Just cutting the state contribution limits to the federal limits for donations to candidates for president and Congress would have a "major impact," Stern said. The federal limits are $2,400 for donations by individuals and $5,000 for donations by political action committees and political parties.

"Every few years, you need to update your rules because people will try to get around them," Stern said. "That's the problem – there's no legislative will to update the rules. The people have the will."

The state's most prolific campaign fundraiser has been Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has raised more than $155.7 million since he ran for governor in the 2003 recall election. That total includes millions of dollars of his own money that he has put into his campaigns.

A campaign spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger, Julie Soderlund, said much of Schwarzenegger's fundraising has focused on promoting ballot measures he's supported.

"The fact is that Sacramento is a very dysfunctional place," she said. "A lot of times, the only way to get reforms passed is to go directly to the people."